Beyond Smallville
by Ultrawoman
Summary: AU Futurefic. Clark and Chloe work at the Daily Planet. She lands an interview with Lex Luthor, but things don't go according to plan. Slight Chlex. Please R&R. (Complete)
1. Chapter 1

A/N : This is a little bit different to what I normally write. It's got a bit more action and less romance and it is far enough into the future that Clark is Superman. The end of this story is kind of a cliffhanger but that's deliberate because I plan to write a couple of sequel stories. Each story of about four chapters will be like an episode and I have planned three stories/episodes so far. Here's the first one, hope you enjoy it. Please review this and let me know what you think.

Disclaimer : All recognisable characters belong to DC Comics and/or WB, neither of which I am a part of.

CHAPTER 1

"Clark you're not going to believe who just called me?" 

Daily Planet Investigative Reporter Chloe Sullivan bounded up to her friends desk and he glanced up at her with a smile.

"Probably not, so tell me" he urged.

"Lex Luthor's PA" she announced, pride evident in her voice and in her eyes.

"Really?" Clark made a face, not understanding why anyone connected to his old best friend would be calling his blonde reporter friend.

"Yes, I can't believe I finally got an interview with him!" Chloe grinned, fit to burst with pride and enthusiasm.

"I didn't even know you'd been calling him?" said Clark, standing up and looking decidedly worried.

"Clark, every reporter in the city is calling him" Chloe told him, as if it were obvious, which if course it should have been "and I actually got an interview!"

Clark half expected her to jump up and down on the spot like an excited puppy, but she kept a hold of herself and both feet stayed on the ground. 

"It's a long time since you've talked to him isn't it?" she observed as she watched Clark go off in deep thought.

"Yeah, we kind of grew apart after I left Smallville" he said quietly.

"Well, why don't you come to the interview with me and say hi" she suggested, Clark smiled to himself.

Chloe just had no idea that he had seen Lex many times, but not as Clark, as Superman, and he knew Lex had changed. His best friend had gone and been replaced by a single minded monster of a man instead. Responsible for most of the crime in Metropolis even though he still lived mostly in his mansion in Smallville. 

"No, that's okay. This is your big break Chlo, you should do this alone" he told his friend, a friend he had become even closer to since they had started working together as reporters at the Planet.

"Well, okay if you're sure" she shrugged, and looked almost disappointed. 

Clark knew what this interview meant to her so he at least pretended to be interested.

"So when are you meeting him?" he asked.

"Tomorrow at three" she grinned widely again "which doesn't give me long to plan my questions..." she suddenly thought "I'm going to go and tell Perry and then start planning" she added, as she walked away, an extra skip in her step.

Clark watched her back disappear into the editors office and sighed.

Since he'd become Superman things had got complicated. He couldn't believe the good luck he'd had with that. As yet no-one had found out his secret, not even Chloe, but he worried that his luck might change if Lex Luthor came back into their lives. His old best friend had a hungry curiosity and no doubt had already begun trying to decipher the true identity of Superman. If he got closer to Chloe, started asking questions, how long would it take for him to put it together? Clark only hoped tomorrow's interview was the one and only time Chloe met with Lex. It would be safer for everyone that way.

"Hi, I'm Chloe Sullivan, Daily Planet, I'm here to see Mr Luthor for an interview" the blonde reporter told the secretary on the front desk of the LexCorp building.

"I'm sorry, Mr Luthor is in a last minute meeting and cannot be disturbed" the woman smiled in a sickeningly sweet way, reminding Chloe of an raven-haired friend of hers back in Smallville.

"But I have an interview with him at three o'clock" Chloe persisted.

"I understand that Miss Sullivan" the woman smiled some more and Chloe really thought she was going to hurl "and Mr Luthor sends his apologies but this is a very important meeting and he cannot be disturbed"

Chloe realised there was little she could do about it and if she had to keep talking to this awful woman, who could give Lana Lang, the pom-pom princess herself, a run for her money in the sweet smile department, she was going to go crazy, trash the place or possibly both.

"I don't believe this" she tried not to yell and show herself up as she made to storm out of the building.

"Miss Sullivan?" a voice stopped her in her tracks and she turned to see a man in a suit with a permanently petrified expression.

'Well, I'd say he definitely works for the Luthors' she thought to herself.

"Who wants to know?" she asked.

"I have a message for you, from Mr Luthor" the timid assistant shuffled forward and handed Chloe a piece of folded paper.

"Thankyou" she managed to smile as she opened the paper and read what she found written inside.

Miss Sullivan,

I apologise profusely for my lack of availability today. I hope I have not caused you too much inconvenience and I do wish to make it up to you. Would you do me the honour of joining me for dinner tomorrow night? I promise to show up this time and hope we can catch up on old times as well as conduct an interview

Send your answer with my messenger and I will make the necessary arrangements,

Lex Luthor

'Dinner with Lex Luthor' she mused to herself, 'an interview and a chance to "catch up". I could do worse things with my time' she smiled to herself, as she took out a pen and scribbled a reply.

Mr Luthor, 

Dinner would be great but it won't make me any less of an interviewer just because you're paying for a meal for me. When arrangements have been made, call me on 555-1936, but be warned I haven't lost any of my verbal judo skills over the years.

See you tomorrow

Chloe

She smiled triumphantly as she handed the note back to the man in the suit and held her head high as she walked out of the front door of the Lexcorp building.

TBC


	2. Chapter 2

CHAPTER 2

"Chloe Sullivan's desk" Clark said into the receiver of the telephone on his friend and reporting partners desk.

"Clark?" the voice on the other end asked and he knew immediately who he was talking to, just from the way the caller said his name.

"Lex?"

"Yes, I was calling to make dinner arrangements with Chloe" the young Luthor explained, before exclaiming "Wow, it's a long time since we've talked"

For a moment Clark was silent as he thought how it was not so long since he had last seen Lex, but that had been as Superman.

"Yes, it is" he lied, as he always had to keep his secret identity just that, a secret "Well, Chloe is here" he said quickly, as the blonde came into the office, "so I'll pass you over"

Covering the receiver with his hand he mouthed to her that Lex was on the phone. With a huge grin on her face she took the phone from her friend.

"Hello, Mr Luthor" she greeted, using his full name as it seemed more proper when arranging an interview.

"Miss Sullivan, how are you?" he asked, also feeling full names to be more appropriate right now.

"I'm fine, thankyou. How are you?" she said politely, remembering all her manners. This was an important call after all, she really wanted this interview.

"Same as always" he told her non-comittally and there was silence for a moment before Chloe couldn't bear it any longer.

"Good, now we've done the niceties, about this interview..."

She was surprised t be interrupted by a small burst of laughter in her ear.

"Same old Chloe, a reporter to the end" said Lex, letting her first name slip out without thinking, but deciding it probably didn't matter anyway. Whilst she could see why he found that funny,she pretended to be affronted.

"I didn't get to be top reporter at the Daily Planet without being a 'reporter to the end'" she told him, seriously as she could.

"Good point" he conceded, knowing what she said was true, "but I was hoping that tomorrow night won't be all about the interview"

"Well, Luthors are known for their ulterior motives" Chloe repeated what she had often heard said before "I did wonder if there was more to you accepting an interview than there seemed"

"Is it wrong of me to want to catch up with an old acquaintance?" he asked and she almost felt guilty.

"No, I guess not" she said quietly, a little embarrassed now, and glad that he couldn't see her.

"So, how about I pick you up tomorrow night, in the limo at, shall we say eight o'clock at your apartment" he suggested.

"No" she said maybe a little more abruptly than she'd meant to "let's say eight o'clock at the Planet"

"As you wish" he said, although he didn't understand "I'll see you then"

"Yes, you will. Goodbye Mr Luthor" she said, back in her polite tone.

"Chloe, after all these years have you still not learnt my first name" The reporter just knew he was smirking when he said that and she smiled herself, just imagining it.

"Sorry" she said "Bye Lex"

"Bye Chloe" she heard him answer, before putting down the phone. She sat down on her desk chair with a sigh and smile of satisfaction.

"Why is Lex taking you to dinner?" Clark wanted to know. He'd gone back to sit at his own desk whilst Chloe was on the phone, but with his super-hearing he knew all that had been said, and it didn't matter if he mentioned dinner since Lex had mentioned it to him.

"I thought I told you" Chloe said, thinking about it and deciding obviously she hadn't "Oh well" she shrugged and began to explain anyway "he missed our interview, so he's taking me to dinner and I'm going to do the interview at the same time"

Chloe spun on her chair to face her computer and began typing up the notes for her latest story, thinking Clarks questioning was over. She was wrong.

"So, why did you tell him to pick you up here and not at your apartment?"

She sighed and turned back to face her friend.

"You think I want Lex Luthor seeing that dump I live in. I want to create a good impression Clark" she explained, before turning back to her computer again. Clark turned to walk away before changing his mind.

"Y'know actually I think I might stick around tomorrow and say hi to Lex before you go to dinner" he told Chloe.

"Whatever Clark" she called over her shoulder, as her fingers moved across the keyboard at near lightening speed. She wasn't really concerned about what Clark did anymore. She had been infatuated with him in high school but as she got older she seemed to out grow her crush and they had remained firm friends. Clark had dated Lana for a while but it hadn't lasted and now Miss Lang was a few months away from being Mrs Ross as she was engaged to their mutual friend Pete.

Chloe saw Clark as her partner at work and her best friend, nothing more and nothing less. He was the main guy in her life in a lot of ways, but completely un-romantically. Apart from a small crush on a certain man of steel, (and didn't every woman in Metropolis have a crush on him?) there really weren't a lot of men in Chloe's life these days. She didn't care. She buried herself in her work that she loved so much. It was all she needed.

Clark sat just watching Chloe as she typed furiously on her keyboard. She was his best friend and he loved her very much, both as Clark and as Superman, although she had no idea they were the same person, and given the reputation Lex Luthor had had with women even as a young man, Clark felt he needed to protect Chloe from this man. It seemed strange to him that the man who had been his best friend and almost a brother to him for so many years could have turned out the way Lex had. He had done what everyone feared he would - he had become his father.

Lex was more like Lionel, in some easy, than even Lionel was and the younger Luthor harboured a dark desire, to kill Superman. Clark knew now just how untrustworthy Lex was, but who could he tell? To tell the world of the secrets Lex Luthor held, would mean telling that same world that he himself, Clark Kent, was Superman. He might not be able to save the whole world from Lex Luthor, but he would do his best to make sure he kept Chloe safe from him, whatever the cost.

TBC


	3. Chapter 3

CHAPTER 3

It was just a few minutes before Lex Luthor was due to arrive at the Daily Planet building to pick up Investigative Reporter Chloe Sullivan. Apart from her, Clark Kent had also stayed behind, under the pretence of wanting to see his old best friend after a long time apart. His real reason for staying was his distrust of this man, especially around Chloe. Clark knew only too well how Lex treated women and reporters, neither of which were pleasant, and with Chloe being both female and a journalist, Clark wasn't taking any chances.

The rest of the staff had long since left the building, all except for these two reporters and a few security staff. One of these staff appeared as the elevator doors opened and caught both Clark and Chloe's attention.

"Who's there?" called the man, older than both the reporters by at least ten years, he carried a pistol in his hand.

"Oh, it's okay Steve, it's just me and Clark" Chloe smiled to him and he lowered the gun.

"What are you doing here at this time of night?" he asked.

"I finally got my interview with Lex Luthor" the blonde happily told him and Clark rolled his eyes at her enthusiasm.

"Congratulations, Chloe" the security guard faked a smile "but unfortunately, it's not going to happen" he said, an evil undertone to his voice as he brought the gun back up and aimed it at the young woman.

"Oh my God" she gasped and Clark instinctively stepped nearer to her.

"Steve, what are you doing?"

"I'm going to have to kill you" the man by the elevator let out a laugh somewhere between nervous and manic.

"Steve, no, you can't do this..." Chloe tried to reason with him, daring to step forward.

"Shut up!" he screamed in frustration picking up the nearest object, a coffee mug, and throwing it at her. It glanced off the side of her head knocking her unconscious before shattering into several pieces on the hard floor.

"Chloe!" Clark called to her as she hit the ground too. He glanced between Steve's shaking hand, gripping the gun and Chloe's still form on the ground just feet from him. The man seemed to panic as soon as Clark tried to move.

"Oh God, It wasn't supposed to be like this, you weren't supposed to be here" he rambled "I was just going to come in, take the money and go, you weren't supposed to be here..."

Thinking Steve was too wrapped up in his own guilty panic, Clark stepped toward his friend.

"Leave her, don't you dare move" the maniac yelled, steadying the gun with two hands and pointing it directly at Clark's head. He knew no bullet could harm him, but if the shaking man missed he could harm Chloe.

"Steve, come on, you don't want to do this" Clark tried it reason with the man, but he was completely unhinged, and making no sense at all.

"Don't tell me what I want! I have to do this, I don't have a choice, I owe money, they'll kill me if I don't pay!" he yelled, waving the weapon madly.

"Who do you owe money to?" Clark asked him, but it was almost as if Steve didn't even understand the question.

"Him, he'll kill me, if I don't pay, I have to get the money" he repeated, and Clark watched as the elevator doors opened again revealing Lex Luthor.

"What the hell?!" the billionaire exclaimed on seeing the madman just a few feet in front of him.

"Lex, watch out, he's got a gun" Clark yelled as Steve spun round and pointed the pistol at the bald man. Lex instinctively backed up a step or two and put his hands up.

"I can shoot you too" Steve warned "Now get over there with your friend" he said, twitching the gun round toward Clark. Lex did as he was told, afraid for his life. As he reached Clark's side he whispered to him. 

"Clark, what is going on? Where's Chloe?"

The younger man tipped his head a little, toward where Chloe lay, still motionless.

"He knocked her out, but I think she's okay. He won't let me near her"

"What does he want?" Lex hissed out of one side of his mouth. The gunman was so panicked, talking to himself again, he didn't even notice the conversation between two of his hostages.

"Money, but there isn't any here, I think he's delusional" Clark explained.

"Well, if this is about money then maybe I can help" the older man thought aloud.

"Excuse me?" he called to the frantic man, getting his attention immediately "Look, I can give you money as much as you want, just let me and my friends go, okay?" It might have been okay if he hadn't have made the big mistake of stepping toward Steve.

"Don't come near me! Don't move" he yelled madly, but Lex wasn't discouraged.

"Come on, I can help you" he told the man but he was beyond help.

"No!" the sound of the crazed security guards screaming voice was only drowned out but the crack of the gun as a bullet was realised toward the billionaire in it's line of fire. Clark saw the bullet leave the gun, almost in slow motion and he dived on top of Lex bringing him down to the ground in one swift movement. The bullet was deflected by the steel-like surface that was Clark's body, his back to be precise.

"No!" the madman screamed again, realising he had actually shot someone, and not realising he had done no harm. Before Clark and Lex had even turned around, another shot was fired and Steve was dead.

"Clark, are you okay?" the young Luthor checked as they picked themselves up off the floor.

"I'm fine, you?" he checked, he didn't like the man anymore but he didn't want him dead or even injured so mindlessly.

"Yeah" Lex confirmed he was okay "How come you're not bleeding?" he asked, a dubious look on his face. He was certain that if he himself had not been hit by the bullet then Clark must have been.

"He missed" the reporter told him, nervous that Lex might see through the lie. For a moment neither man moved and Clark held his breath until Lex looked away again. 

"Well, he was obviously better at close range" the bald man said, gesturing towards the man by the elevators, a bullet hole right through his skull.

"You check on Chloe, I'll get Steve" said Clark, knowing that Lex would not help the man even if he could. Forgiveness, understanding and helpfulness were not in the Luthor dictionary, he was sure. As Clark had expected, however, Steve was dead anyway.

"Chloe, are you okay?" said Lex as the blonde woman stirred.

"Clark?" she blinked, trying to focus on the figure leaning over her.

"No, its me, Lex" he told her, trying to help her to her feet. There was a small cut on the side of her head and some blood, but she seemed more or less okay "You feeling all right?" he checked, noticing at this completely inappropriate time that how ever she felt, she certainly looked good. The years had been good to Miss Sullivan, there was no denying that.

"Yeah, I think I'm okay" she told him, putting one hand to her head and steadying herself on the mans arm with the other "My head hurts" she said, unnecessarily.

"Looks like our meting is going to have to wait again" Mr Luthor smirked as he lowered the reporter into a chair and she laughed despite all that had happened.

"Maybe I'm just destined not to interview you" she suggested.

"I don't believe in maybes, Miss Sullivan" he told her, seriously and she shot him a look when she heard her full name, "Chloe" he corrected himself, "And I promise you, we will meet again very soon"

Clark watched the scene play out in front of him. He didn't like the way Lex looked at Chloe or the way she smiled as he spoke to her. He would have to do something about it, but for now Clark Kent had a bigger problem. Lex knew that that bullet bounced off of him, that was obvious and if he knew that, then he knew that Clark was Superman.

TBC


	4. Chapter 4

CHAPTER 4

A gust of wind ruffled the papers on Lex Luthors desk and he looked over at the open French doors to the balcony. 

"Mr Luthor" Superman said with a certain amount of dislike, "we need to talk" 

"For what do I owe the pleasure of your company, Superman?" Lex replied, standing up from his desk chair.

"Lex..." said the man before him, with a look that did not belong to the man of steel but to another man altogether, a look that belonged to Clark Kent alone.

With a snap of his fingers, Lex's servants were dismissed and the doors to the office locked behind them.

"So, why are you here?" he asked, pouring himself a glass of whisky before continuing without waiting for a reply "Let me guess, because I know something you think I shouldn't know?"

"Well..." Superman started, as he walked around the room "first I want to talk about Chloe"

"What about her?" the billionaire asked, sipping his drink, his eyes following the caped man.

"What do you want with her?" Superman demanded to know, arms folded across his chest as he stopped in the centre of the room.

"I don't think that's any of your business, Clark" he said, completely relaxed, but emphasising the man's real name. Clark looked decidedly nervous. He had suspected that Lex would put it together after yesterday's episode but he had hoped he was wrong. The realisation that the most evil man in Metropolis and Smallville and possible the world knew of his secret identity hit Clark like a bullet, only this one was not deflectable by his steel-like body.

"You think yesterday told me what you were?" Lex continued "I've known for years" he admitted and at that moment you could have knocked Superman down with a single push. 

"You knew I was Clark and yet you continued to hate me?" he said, hardly able to comprehend what the man was telling him. Lex just seemed to find the whole thing highly amusing. 

"I don't hate Clark" he explained, emphasising his name "I only hate one person in this world and that's Superman" he drained his glass as Clark gaped at him.

"But I am Superman" 

"Clark isn't Superman anymore than Superman is Clark" the young Luthor stated, placing his glass down on the table "Clark Kent is my best friend, the man who saved my life more than once and someone I respect and love like a brother. Superman is the reason why despite all my wealth and privileges, I can never be most powerful man in the world. Without that I will never be truly happy"

There was silence as the two men locked eyes, Clark feeling a certain amount of guilt and although it was unreadable on his face, Lex felt some guilt too.

"Lex, I want you to be happy" Clark said quietly.

"Maybe Clark wants that..." replied the other man, in a similarly hushed tone. He turned to look out over the balcony and Clark walked up behind him.

"How can I prove it to you?" he asked.

"If Clark wants my happiness" said Lex, never turning his gaze away from the skyline "then he will destroy Superman"

"I don't understand" Clark admitted.

Lex turned quickly, coming face to face with his nemesis, Superman and speaking with as cold a tone as Clark had ever heard from anyone.

"In order for me to be the greatest power and for me to be truly happy with my life, Superman must cease to be" he explained, taking a few steps away as he finished speaking.

"You want me to give up being Superman?" Clark couldn't believe what he was hearing.

"Exactly" Lex nodded as if the answer were obvious.

"Lex, I can't do that" the man he no longer recognised as his best friend told him.

"Then there is nothing more you can do for me" the billionaire sighed as he reached the French doors. He turned as he got there and spoke even more coldly than before "but, remember this, as much as Clark means to me, Superman will die, if not at your own hands, then at mine"

"You're not a murderer Lex" said Superman, folding his arms to look strong, but at the same time pleading with his eyes.

"You don't know what I am any more" the young Luthor told him "but I know what you are" he said, threateningly. As he pulled the glass doors behind him, he called over his shoulder, "Now, I think I might call my friend Miss Sullivan. Have a nice life, Superman"

THE END

A/N : I'm in the process of writing Episode 2 right now, so if you liked this one please review and tell me. If you didn't like it you can review and tell me that too, but in a polite way please.


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